0:00:02 > 0:00:07I have crossed the Atlantic, to ride the railroads of America...
0:00:08 > 0:00:10..with a new travelling companion.
0:00:12 > 0:00:17Published in 1879, my Appleton's General Guide will steer me
0:00:17 > 0:00:20to everything that's novel...
0:00:20 > 0:00:23beautiful...memorable
0:00:23 > 0:00:26or curious in the United States.
0:00:26 > 0:00:27- ALL:- Amen.
0:00:29 > 0:00:33As I cross the continent, I'll discover America's Gilded Age,
0:00:33 > 0:00:37when powerful tycoons launched a railway boom
0:00:37 > 0:00:40that tied the nation together
0:00:40 > 0:00:43and carved out its future as a superpower.
0:01:06 > 0:01:12I'm beginning my American adventure in New York, the Empire State.
0:01:12 > 0:01:16Starting in New York City, I'll continue up the Hudson
0:01:16 > 0:01:21to Poughkeepsie and the New York State capital of Albany.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24From here, I'll turn west to the Great Lakes,
0:01:24 > 0:01:27taking in Rochester and Buffalo.
0:01:27 > 0:01:31I'll finish my journey on the Canadian border at Niagara Falls.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Today, I'll explore New York's Manhattan Island
0:01:42 > 0:01:47using the subway, the busiest rail transit system in the United States.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56I'll start at the magnificent Grand Central Terminal.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58In the financial district,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02I'll hear about the so-called robber barons of America's Gilded Age
0:02:02 > 0:02:08before tracing their activities to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12I finish in Midtown, on that most theatrical of streets, Broadway.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18Along the way,
0:02:18 > 0:02:22I visit the gateway to the nation for millions of immigrants...
0:02:22 > 0:02:25People would be sitting on the benches,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28anxiously shuffling their feet, awaiting their trains
0:02:28 > 0:02:30that would take them to new lives,
0:02:30 > 0:02:31to a new adventure.
0:02:31 > 0:02:36..uncover shady deals and crooked politicians...
0:02:36 > 0:02:38Railroads could not have been built without federal support
0:02:38 > 0:02:40and they relied very, very heavily
0:02:40 > 0:02:42on sort of corrupt political connections.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50# Pardon me, boy Is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo? #
0:02:50 > 0:02:54..and I'm thoroughly choo-chooed on Broadway.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58# Chattanooga Choo Choo Won't you choo-choo me home? #
0:02:58 > 0:03:01APPLAUSE
0:03:14 > 0:03:18Like the 19th century tourist following my guide book,
0:03:18 > 0:03:20I'm starting in New York City.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30"Grand Central Depot, the largest and finest in the country,
0:03:30 > 0:03:36"built of brick, stone and iron, 692 feet long and 240 foot wide."
0:03:36 > 0:03:38That was written in 1879
0:03:38 > 0:03:43and now it's been replaced by a lofty temple,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46a building of such elegance, sophistication
0:03:46 > 0:03:49and grandeur that the Big Apple says,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52"I don't care where you've been before,
0:03:52 > 0:03:54"this city admits no near equal".
0:04:03 > 0:04:06In the foyer of this awe-inspiring building,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09I'm meeting Dan Brucker, who's been guiding tourists
0:04:09 > 0:04:12around Grand Central Terminal for over 25 years.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16- Hi, I'm Dan Brucker. - Hello, Dan, I'm Michael.- Hi.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19I was just obviously admiring Grand Central Station,
0:04:19 > 0:04:22and this is an amazing bit of architecture.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24So when was this finally opened to the public?
0:04:24 > 0:04:28Right, this opened up in February of 1913.
0:04:28 > 0:04:33It was then and remains to this day the world's largest train terminal.
0:04:33 > 0:04:37Also, ever single day, coming through Grand Central Terminal,
0:04:37 > 0:04:42pass more than 750,000 people.
0:04:42 > 0:04:43I can believe it.
0:04:44 > 0:04:48The mastermind behind this railroad cathedral was the industrial
0:04:48 > 0:04:51magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55He built the first station on the site in 1871.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57It stood until 1902,
0:04:57 > 0:04:59when a catastrophic collision
0:04:59 > 0:05:03between two steam-powered passenger trains in an approach tunnel
0:05:03 > 0:05:06led the New York Central Railroad Company
0:05:06 > 0:05:08to switch to electricity
0:05:08 > 0:05:13and Grand Central was completely redesigned for a new age,
0:05:13 > 0:05:16with 49 platforms over two levels.
0:05:16 > 0:05:20The steam railyards north of the station were built over.
0:05:20 > 0:05:22Above them rose Park Avenue,
0:05:22 > 0:05:25offering some of the most prestigious real estate
0:05:25 > 0:05:29in the world, whose revenues flowed to Vanderbilt.
0:05:30 > 0:05:31He was a shrewd man.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35And so shrewd he made sure that his mark was going to be literally
0:05:35 > 0:05:37engraved throughout here.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40On the very tippy top of that clock,
0:05:40 > 0:05:44that is an acorn and throughout this terminal,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47you'll see acorns and oak leaf clusters aplenty.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49It was a Vanderbilt family symbol
0:05:49 > 0:05:51because from the acorn rose a mighty oak.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53It certainly grew.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02In its heyday, Grand Central was the gateway to the nation.
0:06:02 > 0:06:07A place from where millions of eager migrants set out west
0:06:07 > 0:06:10to forge a new life in the New World.
0:06:21 > 0:06:27- Vanderbilt Hall.- Yes. It has...quite a history to it.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30Because, here on this magnificent floor,
0:06:30 > 0:06:34you will notice that there are little scoops.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37People would be sitting on the benches, awaiting their trains
0:06:37 > 0:06:40that would take them to new lives, to a new adventure.
0:06:40 > 0:06:45So they'd be sitting here, anxiously shuffling their feet,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48as they were about to begin an entire new life
0:06:48 > 0:06:50across these United States.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58Today, distances travelled from the terminal are more modest.
0:07:01 > 0:07:02How many people on this train?
0:07:02 > 0:07:05Right, we've got 1,200 people on this train alone.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Now, we have more tracks and track platforms
0:07:08 > 0:07:10than any other station in the world.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14We have 42 tracks serving 63 track platforms
0:07:14 > 0:07:17and trains are arriving here every 47 seconds
0:07:17 > 0:07:21during the morning rush hour and these numbers are greater than ever.
0:07:21 > 0:07:22It's an unbelievable building.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26- Do you ever lose your sense of awe for it?- No, I never do.
0:07:26 > 0:07:27My favourite part of the terminal
0:07:27 > 0:07:29is not the building in and of itself,
0:07:29 > 0:07:32but people's expressions as they come from out of town,
0:07:32 > 0:07:34from the Midwest, Europe,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37and they come in here and they see this place, wide-eyed.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40- And that includes my face? - Yes, there's that too.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45For strangers passing through the imposing Terminal Hall,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48the challenge is how to find the right track
0:07:48 > 0:07:50and information on their train.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59- Hello.- Hi.- So my name's Michael, what's yours?- Michael, I'm CP.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02Great to see you, CP. How did you learn all these train times?
0:08:02 > 0:08:06- Do you sit down and study?- Sometimes I do. If they do change us...
0:08:06 > 0:08:11- Just a moment.- OK.- Hi, excuse me. - Can you point me to...?
0:08:11 > 0:08:15- I need track 29.- 29 what? - Um, it's rail, to Poughkeepsie.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Oh, you want to go to Poughkeepsie.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20- All right, young lady, hurry up, one minute, right behind me.- OK.
0:08:20 > 0:08:21Mm-hm.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24So, New Yorkers, of course, have a worldwide reputation
0:08:24 > 0:08:26for being THE most polite people in the world, is that right?
0:08:26 > 0:08:30- No, that's not polite. No, they're not polite.- No?
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Sometimes, they can be very rude, but you go with it.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35- Yeah?- We're dealing with people.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37But you're trained to be polite back, are you?
0:08:37 > 0:08:39I'm born polite, I can't help it.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42All those people pouring into New York,
0:08:42 > 0:08:44the human fuel that makes this motor run.
0:08:44 > 0:08:47Yes. Yes, yes. But it's fun.
0:08:51 > 0:08:53And, like so many before me,
0:08:53 > 0:08:58I leave these majestic marble halls to begin my adventure.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23Before I explore today's Manhattan at ground-level,
0:09:23 > 0:09:26an eagle-eyed view is in order.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28A short journey north from Grand Central
0:09:28 > 0:09:30takes me to the Rockefeller Centre.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33This vast complex was constructed
0:09:33 > 0:09:37by the oil tycoon and philanthropist John D Rockefeller,
0:09:37 > 0:09:41during the Great Depression and opened in 1933.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43I'm heading to the top.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48Appleton's map of New York City, 1879,
0:09:48 > 0:09:51and it's all completely recognisable.
0:09:51 > 0:09:55There's the Hudson River to my right, the East River to my left.
0:09:55 > 0:09:56Down there, where the Freedom Tower is,
0:09:56 > 0:09:58that was old Colonial New York,
0:09:58 > 0:10:01and you could recognise it on the map
0:10:01 > 0:10:03because all the streets are higgledy-piggledy.
0:10:03 > 0:10:09But the city had planned its expansion on a grid system
0:10:09 > 0:10:11and you can see the grid from here.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14You can't maybe see the streets but you can tell that all the buildings
0:10:14 > 0:10:18are in the same orientation, they're facing me directly.
0:10:18 > 0:10:20But you have to remember, when this map was published,
0:10:20 > 0:10:22there were no skyscrapers.
0:10:22 > 0:10:26It was all little houses and warehouses and storehouses
0:10:26 > 0:10:30and everything that's happened since has transformed the city.
0:10:30 > 0:10:34But it's all developed according to plan.
0:10:45 > 0:10:50Bounded by water, Manhattan Island had limited space to grow.
0:10:50 > 0:10:55The answer? Push the limits of technology and build up.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02Here, you can see how skyscrapers began.
0:11:02 > 0:11:04This is the wonderful Flatiron Building.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08They were made possible by a new way of producing steel,
0:11:08 > 0:11:11patented by an Englishman, Henry Bessemer.
0:11:11 > 0:11:15And that meant that you could have a building that was elegant
0:11:15 > 0:11:17and slim from bottom to top.
0:11:17 > 0:11:19And then the decoration, well,
0:11:19 > 0:11:23that's drawn from Classical Greece and from the Renaissance.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28And so, the technology was British, the decoration was European,
0:11:28 > 0:11:33but the boldness, the chutzpah, was all American.
0:11:38 > 0:11:42One early investor in the Bessemer steel-making process
0:11:42 > 0:11:46in the United States was Scottish-born Andrew Carnegie.
0:11:46 > 0:11:52Steel rails were more durable than iron and, in 1875, Carnegie built
0:11:52 > 0:11:57a steel plant devoted to the needs of the expanding railroad industry.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02He became one of the wealthiest men in America.
0:12:10 > 0:12:11A subway journey downtown,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15followed by a walk through the financial district,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18takes me to a restaurant that regularly hosted Carnegie,
0:12:18 > 0:12:20the still-thriving Delmonico's.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27Delmonico's, according to Appleton's,
0:12:27 > 0:12:29is, "One of the best restaurants in the world
0:12:29 > 0:12:32"and famous for its elaborate dinners".
0:12:32 > 0:12:37This is where those with the Midas touch would meet and eat.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42Open since 1837,
0:12:42 > 0:12:46some 40 years before the publication of my guide book,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49Delmonico's was the first restaurant in the United States
0:12:49 > 0:12:51to feature tablecloths.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55And it claims to have invented many dishes, including Eggs Benedict.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00On the menu tonight is their famous Lobster Newburg.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04- Ah, here it is.- Here we go.- Wow. - Beautiful Lobster Newburg.
0:13:04 > 0:13:06- Thank you.- That is impressive.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08'My dining companion is a historian
0:13:08 > 0:13:13'from the City University of New York, Nora Slonimsky.'
0:13:13 > 0:13:15Oh, that's delicious.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Nora, I suggested this restaurant
0:13:18 > 0:13:21because apparently it was very popular during the Gilded Age.
0:13:21 > 0:13:22What was the Gilded Age?
0:13:22 > 0:13:26The Gilded Age was a period in American history
0:13:26 > 0:13:29from about 1870 to 1890 and the phrase basically expresses
0:13:29 > 0:13:33sort of the paradox of the changes that are happening in this moment,
0:13:33 > 0:13:37that, on the one hand, you have this incredible technological innovation,
0:13:37 > 0:13:40innovation really is personified by the railroads
0:13:40 > 0:13:42and railroad expansion, in which incredible wealth
0:13:42 > 0:13:45and incredible economic expansion is happening,
0:13:45 > 0:13:48but on the other, that wealth is very misleading
0:13:48 > 0:13:52because there are a lot of people who are not benefitting.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54So, in that sense, it's gilded.
0:13:54 > 0:13:56After the Civil War,
0:13:56 > 0:14:00the railroads bring together this vast single economy
0:14:00 > 0:14:03but they also, I suppose, unite the country metaphorically,
0:14:03 > 0:14:05after the Civil War. Is that true?
0:14:05 > 0:14:07Yes, I would say they do.
0:14:07 > 0:14:10So the railroad sort of had to be sold, in a lot of ways,
0:14:10 > 0:14:12to the American people in this period
0:14:12 > 0:14:14and one of the issues they were selling
0:14:14 > 0:14:16was that "we can truly unite the country".
0:14:18 > 0:14:24In 1869, four years after the end of the American Civil War,
0:14:24 > 0:14:28the first trans-continental railroad was completed in Utah.
0:14:28 > 0:14:31By the end of the century, the railways were by far
0:14:31 > 0:14:34the biggest business in the United States,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38whose tentacles connected every sizable community.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41Much like the internet, I think, is today,
0:14:41 > 0:14:45the railroad was sort of this transformative moment for modernity,
0:14:45 > 0:14:49for nationalism, for sort of society as a whole in this time.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52Who were the big figures in this period?
0:14:52 > 0:14:53Oh, well, there's several,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56but I would say perhaps the most iconic figure, definitely someone
0:14:56 > 0:14:59who would probably eat here, would've been Jay Gould.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02And Jay Gould is from New York and he started his career
0:15:02 > 0:15:04as a book-keeper to a blacksmith, actually.
0:15:04 > 0:15:06And then, relatively quickly, right before the Civil War,
0:15:06 > 0:15:10began investing in New York railroads, local railroads.
0:15:10 > 0:15:11And after the Civil War,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15when that opportunity...for really just westward expansion
0:15:15 > 0:15:19exploded, he really capitalised on that very quickly and began,
0:15:19 > 0:15:21through a series of business connections
0:15:21 > 0:15:25and government relations to invest very heavily in railroads.
0:15:25 > 0:15:29At the height of Gould's power in the 1880s,
0:15:29 > 0:15:34he controlled one seventh of the entire American rail network.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37Although tycoons' business practices
0:15:37 > 0:15:39and their treatment of workers varied,
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Gould and fellow industrialists like Vanderbilt
0:15:42 > 0:15:46and Carnegie were popularly labelled "robber barons".
0:15:46 > 0:15:50It's not a flattering name, by any means,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53and what it basically combines
0:15:53 > 0:15:57is a pretty longstanding American scepticism about aristocracy
0:15:57 > 0:16:01with a dislike for sort of common criminality.
0:16:01 > 0:16:04And were they? Were they dishonest?
0:16:04 > 0:16:07Yes, I would say a lot of the practices they engaged with were pretty dishonest.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10They were very brutal to their employees,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14they were very ruthless with their competitors and they relied very,
0:16:14 > 0:16:17very heavily on sort of corrupt political connections
0:16:17 > 0:16:19to ensure that their enterprises succeeded.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23The railroads could not have been built without federal support
0:16:23 > 0:16:25and someone like Gould knew that.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28And Gould's most probably infamous relationship
0:16:28 > 0:16:32was with a New York City politician, William or "Boss" Tweed,
0:16:32 > 0:16:35and their dynamic was very close.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39When Boss Tweed was finally caught for embezzlement charges,
0:16:39 > 0:16:43Gould paid his, I believe, 1 million bond.
0:16:43 > 0:16:48Do you think it's conceivable, then, that a robber baron met here
0:16:48 > 0:16:52- with a corrupt politician, over a Lobster Newburg?- I would...
0:16:52 > 0:16:55I would absolutely say that there's a very strong possibility that
0:16:55 > 0:16:58Jay Gould and William "Boss" Tweed could have sat right over there.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00No money has changed hands this evening,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02but it has been a pleasure dining with you.
0:17:02 > 0:17:03- Thank you.- Thank you so much.
0:17:10 > 0:17:14New York might be the city that never sleeps,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17but after that fine dinner, I won't attempt to keep up.
0:17:18 > 0:17:22I'll let the 24-hour hum of Manhattan continue without me.
0:17:39 > 0:17:44This morning, I'm starting the day in Manhattan's Central Park,
0:17:44 > 0:17:45with the morning papers.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53New York newspaper review, 1879.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57In the New York Times, under the heading "John Smith Cannibal",
0:17:57 > 0:18:01we learn that the Massachusetts herdsman, who eats reptiles
0:18:01 > 0:18:05and would like to eat human flesh, is a former marine.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08There's a report from London, England,
0:18:08 > 0:18:12that a Parliamentary committee's report on electric lighting
0:18:12 > 0:18:15says that sufficient progress has been made
0:18:15 > 0:18:20to encourage the belief that electricity has an important future,
0:18:20 > 0:18:25for illuminating and as a source of mechanical power.
0:18:25 > 0:18:29The New York Herald covers its front page with an advertisement for ale,
0:18:29 > 0:18:35but inside, a harrowing description of a railroad accident.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40It seems that one of the most remarkable accidents of the age
0:18:40 > 0:18:44occurred on the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47The train was going at 30mph when it jumped the track
0:18:47 > 0:18:51and the coupling of the rear first class coach snapped in two
0:18:51 > 0:18:55and the coach went rolling over and over,
0:18:55 > 0:19:00down the declivity, a distance of 30 feet, to the Greenbrier River.
0:19:00 > 0:19:06So...gory tales of crime, predictions of the future
0:19:06 > 0:19:08and accidents.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10Nothing changes much.
0:19:16 > 0:19:22At the eastern edge of Central Park, on 5th Avenue and 82nd Street,
0:19:22 > 0:19:24Appleton's says that I'll find,
0:19:24 > 0:19:28"the spacious building "of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,
0:19:28 > 0:19:31"a fine collection of the Old Masters,
0:19:31 > 0:19:35"loaned by the wealthy virtuous of the city.
0:19:39 > 0:19:43Many of the robber barons who played hardball in the boardroom
0:19:43 > 0:19:46proved generous philanthropists outside it.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Today, the museum is the third-most-visited
0:19:49 > 0:19:53in the United States and the seventh most popular globally.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58I'm meeting Jim Moske, archivist at the Met,
0:19:58 > 0:20:02to find out how the riches of the railway trade provided a boon
0:20:02 > 0:20:04for the city's art lovers.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11Jim, what is so striking to me, as a European,
0:20:11 > 0:20:16is that this amazing collection of art is not a national gallery.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18- How did it all start?- That's right, it's not a national gallery.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22The Metropolitan, it was founded in 1870
0:20:22 > 0:20:25by a group of public-spirited citizens of New York
0:20:25 > 0:20:28who were art collectors, businessmen,
0:20:28 > 0:20:30financiers and bankers and the like.
0:20:30 > 0:20:34Railroads were a big way of making a fortune in the 19th century.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36Are they strongly connected with the origins of the museum?
0:20:36 > 0:20:39Many of the early trustees of the museum
0:20:39 > 0:20:41were involved in the railroad industry.
0:20:41 > 0:20:43In fact, the museum's first president
0:20:43 > 0:20:46was a man named John Taylor Johnston,
0:20:46 > 0:20:49who was an art collector and a patron of the arts,
0:20:49 > 0:20:51but he was also a businessman
0:20:51 > 0:20:54who was the president of the Central New Jersey Railroad.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57And do we have a good feel for what kind of a man he was?
0:20:57 > 0:21:00Yeah, Johnston was a very curious man in his business matters
0:21:00 > 0:21:04and did lots of research before he leapt into any investment,
0:21:04 > 0:21:09so, as a person interested in financing railroad construction,
0:21:09 > 0:21:12he travelled the rails quite often himself.
0:21:13 > 0:21:18Johnston remained president of the Met from 1870 to 1879.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20As well as running the museum,
0:21:20 > 0:21:23he seeded its galleries from his personal art collection.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28Now, I know you're obsessed with railroads,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31so I'd like you to take a look at this picture
0:21:31 > 0:21:33by American genre artist Edward Lamson Henry.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36And this was actually commissioned by John Taylor Johnston.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39He wanted a scene like this to decorate his home to remind him
0:21:39 > 0:21:41of how he was making his money, I guess.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44Johnston paid Henry 500 for this painting.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46Henry at that time was quite a young artist
0:21:46 > 0:21:49and it was a tidy sum for him at that point in his career.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53And, as a European, may I just say
0:21:53 > 0:21:56that is the archetypal United States locomotive?
0:22:00 > 0:22:04So, I'd like to show you a painting by the artist John Singer Sargent
0:22:04 > 0:22:07of the second president of the Metropolitan Museum, Henry Marquand.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10- How had he made his money? - In railroads.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12Yeah, if you were a millionaire in New York,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15it was the thing to do to have your portrait painted by Sargent
0:22:15 > 0:22:17or another prominent artist of the day.
0:22:17 > 0:22:20Any idea what Sargent might have got for a portrait like that?
0:22:20 > 0:22:24- They paid Sargent 3,100 American dollars for this picture.- Wow.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27That's a lot of money at the time, but, eh,
0:22:27 > 0:22:29a mere nothing compared with a railroad fortune.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31That's true.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35As the Gilded Age reached its zenith,
0:22:35 > 0:22:40the Metropolitan benefitted from lavish bequests made by tycoons.
0:22:42 > 0:22:46James, what an extraordinary work of art that table is.
0:22:46 > 0:22:48How did it find its way to the Metropolitan Museum?
0:22:48 > 0:22:51It was originally made in the 19th century
0:22:51 > 0:22:54for the Vanderbilt family and it was displayed prominently
0:22:54 > 0:22:56in the library of their 5th Avenue mansion.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00Many of these tycoons actually made great donations of art.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04Some of them were known as robber barons.
0:23:04 > 0:23:05I'm wondering, why did they make donations?
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Is there a paradox here, or is there an explanation?
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Well, I think, for many of them who had longstanding ties
0:23:11 > 0:23:13to the Metropolitan and other institutions,
0:23:13 > 0:23:18they felt genuine senses of wanting to share their aesthetic experience
0:23:18 > 0:23:21with the general public. Others of them, frankly, I think
0:23:21 > 0:23:25were motivated by wanting to enhance their public image
0:23:25 > 0:23:27by making sizable, you know,
0:23:27 > 0:23:29substantial contributions of artworks to places like the Met.
0:23:29 > 0:23:34And now these tycoons are perhaps better remembered for their virtues
0:23:34 > 0:23:36than for what may have been their sins.
0:23:36 > 0:23:37That's very true.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57In my Appleton's Guide, even in 1879,
0:23:57 > 0:23:59when it comes to theatres and amusements,
0:23:59 > 0:24:02there's one street name that occurs again and again.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04They say the neon lights are bright,
0:24:04 > 0:24:07they say there's magic in the air...
0:24:07 > 0:24:09on Broadway.
0:24:21 > 0:24:25After the advent of electric light in the early 20th century,
0:24:25 > 0:24:29theatres on Broadway dazzled audiences with their signage,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32hence its name, The Great White Way.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36The demands of the American Civil War from 1861,
0:24:36 > 0:24:38for troop movement and military supply,
0:24:38 > 0:24:42caused an expansion of the railroads.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44When hostilities ended in 1865,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48Broadway theatres found they could send productions on tour
0:24:48 > 0:24:50by train for the first time.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56Originally, Manhattan's performance district was downtown,
0:24:56 > 0:25:00but after the subway expanded to Times Square in 1904,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03theatres mushroomed in the streets
0:25:03 > 0:25:06around the junction of 7th Avenue and Broadway.
0:25:06 > 0:25:11New Yorkers flocked to performances, as they do today.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19Without a ticket for a show,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22I've heard of a place where resting Broadway actors
0:25:22 > 0:25:28keep their song and dance routines sharp - Ellen's Stardust Diner,
0:25:28 > 0:25:30home of the singing waiters.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35We have something very special for you this evening.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38It's for a special guest who's here today, Michael...
0:25:38 > 0:25:41ALL: ..who loves trains.
0:25:41 > 0:25:42This one's for you, Michael.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50# Pardon me, boy Is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo?
0:25:50 > 0:25:53# Right on track 29
0:25:55 > 0:25:57# Boy, you can give me a shine
0:26:00 > 0:26:03# When you hear the whistle blowin' eight to the bar
0:26:03 > 0:26:06# Then you know that Tennessee is not very far
0:26:06 > 0:26:10# Shovel all the coal in Gotta keep it rollin'
0:26:10 > 0:26:13# Whoo-whoo, Chattanooga There you are
0:26:13 > 0:26:16# So, Chattanooga Choo Choo
0:26:16 > 0:26:20# Won't you choo-choo me home?
0:26:20 > 0:26:23# Climb aboard
0:26:23 > 0:26:25# Choo-choo
0:26:25 > 0:26:28# Chattanooga Choo Choo Won't you choo-choo me home? #
0:26:30 > 0:26:31APPLAUSE
0:26:31 > 0:26:32Thank you.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44There is nothing you can name that is anything like a Manhattan dame.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Choo-choo!
0:26:56 > 0:27:00The New York City that was briefly capital of the United States
0:27:00 > 0:27:02under President George Washington
0:27:02 > 0:27:05was a small cluster of low-rise streets
0:27:05 > 0:27:08at the southern tip of Manhattan.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11A century later, at the time of my Appleton's,
0:27:11 > 0:27:15buildings and railroads had swarmed uptown.
0:27:15 > 0:27:19And then, following a Gilded Age of super-rich tycoons,
0:27:19 > 0:27:25the city sprouted skyscrapers, Grand Central Terminal and an art museum.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27The growth of New York City
0:27:27 > 0:27:33has been more dramatic than anything that's yet appeared on Broadway.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45Next time, I get into a scrap on the Lower East Side.
0:27:45 > 0:27:47I used to be in politics myself, actually.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50- But I didn't buy any votes. - We don't "buy" votes!
0:27:50 > 0:27:55I try to grasp the scale of European emigration to America.
0:27:55 > 0:28:00This hall was designed to process 4,000 people and sometimes,
0:28:00 > 0:28:04at its peak, it processed as many as three times that per day.
0:28:04 > 0:28:09And I get a poignant glimpse of the future for transport in Manhattan.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12The sun will shine directly into this building
0:28:12 > 0:28:14at the moment the last tower fell.